April 19, 2007
NORMAL, Ill. -
Something's got to give this weekend for the Illinois State baseball team (16-18, 7-5 MVC) against Evansville (26-13, 7-5 MVC), as both teams are tied for third place in the Missouri Valley Conference standings with 7-5 marks. However, the Redbirds hold a 5-1 record at home in Valley and the Purple Aces will be looking to spoil that record in the three-game weekend set that ends an eight-game homestand for ISU.
Illinois State head coach Jim Brownlee knows how important this weekend is for his team, but he's looking forward to see what his team will bring to the ballpark.
"This is a very big weekend for us because we're up against an Evansville team that was picked to win the league in the preseason and we find ourselves tied with them right now in third place in the Valley standings," said Brownlee. "Playing a team of their caliber will show how much we have improved throughout the season and how much improving we have left to do before the end of the year."
With their 2-1 series win last weekend against Indiana State at home, the Redbirds have now won three-straight conference series and are looking to continue that stretch as the second half of the Valley season begins. The Purple Aces, last year's MVC regular season and conference tournament champions, have also won three of their first four Valley series and will be looking to break the third place tie over the weekend.
"Evansville has some very good pitchers and they are leading the league in team ERA right now," said Brownlee. "They also have a very experienced team, with a lot of guys returning from last year's squad that advanced to the NCAA Regional Finals. I think they are the best team in the league right now, so playing them at home should help us a little bit this weekend. The series should be a very good test for us and will let us know if we can compete the rest of the way in the Valley."
Junior Eric Theisen (3-4, 5.25 ERA) will take the mound in the series opener on Friday at 6 p.m. against Evansville ace Ben Norton (7-2, 1.90 ERA), who has yet to allow an earned run in four starts in the Valley. Senior Mike Hlavacek (2-0, 4.66 ERA) will get the nod on Saturday for the Redbirds in a 2 p.m. contest and freshman Ryan Copeland (2-2, 6.57 ERA) will take the hill in Sunday's series finale beginning at 1 p.m.
The conference season is half-way over and Brownlee knows that his team has a tough stretch ahead of it the rest of the way.
"We've put ourselves in a good position by winning three of our first four league series. Now, we're into the second half of the Valley season and we will be playing the top three teams in the standings right now. The schedule has been friendly to us thus far, but we know we have to take care of business in order to make the conference tournament."
